Meanwhile...

It's recently descended into near-civil war. It's fraught by vicious internal divisions.It's reeling from a series of appalling attacks, and bombshells, and the ordinary people who can still be found there, who have trembled under despotic and capricious leaders for many years, now seem even worse off since Blair's badly-handled intervention and his sudden regime change.

Many of the best and brightest have fled into exile, unable to cope with the instability, chaos and the ineffective but brutal posturings of the latest-appointed man in charge. The media have reported the disasters and crises on a seemingly-daily basis, as it struggles with lawlessness and terrorism.

Now we hear that it is to be riven in two, or possibly three seperate entities. Perhaps this will allow it to heal, and the people there to communicate with each other without endlessly fighting, and they will live in peace and get on with their working lives without fear. Perhaps. It's one of the last gambles of the dying days of the Blair administration, one final push.

Iraq? Sorry, no, I meant the Home Office.